carolineunderwood
Mold in the laundry room (not mine)!
Is that a mushroom growing from behind the ironing board in the laundry room?! Yes, yes that is in fact a mushroom from some sort of mold feeding off of a water leak from a water line connected to your refrigerator. This was a slightly disturbing find for a friend of mine in the past few weeks. Needless to say, her first thought was "Is this some toxic black mold that will kill me and my pets?" According to the mold remediation professional who tested this lovely bunch of parasitic gunk feeding off of the cellulose and other building materials under the floors, in the wall, and under her house, no. This is not the awfully scary toxic black mold (Stachybotrys atra) that tends to condemn whole buildings. Because this parasite could have come in at any time on clothing articles, with bags, or whatever other items pass through a laundry room, there was no way to prevent this little opportunistic parasitic mold from growing when its niche requirements for food, water, and temperature was fulfilled by a leaky water line. When my friend told me about her issue, I asked if I could come over with a mask on and snap a quick photo. There was another peculiar interaction going on that this photo does not show. The dogs that live in this house have been acting strange any time they passed the door to the laundry room. One of the dogs would even act as if there was a mysterious hallway ghost set to attack him every time he passed this area. Senses are a wonderful defense against predation and in that dog's case, a mold's toxins. This could be a stretch to relate to defense mechanisms in typical predator/prey models. My hypothesis is that the pets living in this home were built with some innate defense (sense of smell) against mold toxins. Mold toxins related are called mycotoxins and can cause pulmonary hemorrhages, flu-like symptoms, and dizziness. Thank goodness this was only an Aspergillus. These molds still produce mycotoxins, but tend to be less toxic than Stachybotrys molds. My hypothesis is that the dogs could smell the mold and altered their behavior to avoid the area where the mold was most highly concentrated months before the mushrooms popped up from underneath the baseboards in the laundry room.
Mold in the laundry room (not mine)!
Is that a mushroom growing from behind the ironing board in the laundry room?! Yes, yes that is in fact a mushroom from some sort of mold feeding off of a water leak from a water line connected to your refrigerator. This was a slightly disturbing find for a friend of mine in the past few weeks. Needless to say, her first thought was "Is this some toxic black mold that will kill me and my pets?" According to the mold remediation professional who tested this lovely bunch of parasitic gunk feeding off of the cellulose and other building materials under the floors, in the wall, and under her house, no. This is not the awfully scary toxic black mold (Stachybotrys atra) that tends to condemn whole buildings. Because this parasite could have come in at any time on clothing articles, with bags, or whatever other items pass through a laundry room, there was no way to prevent this little opportunistic parasitic mold from growing when its niche requirements for food, water, and temperature was fulfilled by a leaky water line. When my friend told me about her issue, I asked if I could come over with a mask on and snap a quick photo. There was another peculiar interaction going on that this photo does not show. The dogs that live in this house have been acting strange any time they passed the door to the laundry room. One of the dogs would even act as if there was a mysterious hallway ghost set to attack him every time he passed this area. Senses are a wonderful defense against predation and in that dog's case, a mold's toxins. This could be a stretch to relate to defense mechanisms in typical predator/prey models. My hypothesis is that the pets living in this home were built with some innate defense (sense of smell) against mold toxins. Mold toxins related are called mycotoxins and can cause pulmonary hemorrhages, flu-like symptoms, and dizziness. Thank goodness this was only an Aspergillus. These molds still produce mycotoxins, but tend to be less toxic than Stachybotrys molds. My hypothesis is that the dogs could smell the mold and altered their behavior to avoid the area where the mold was most highly concentrated months before the mushrooms popped up from underneath the baseboards in the laundry room.